If you're looking for the homework...

Remember the link for the homework page is in the column on the right hand side...

Mr. D

Mock Exam change to time!

Next Tuesday's Mock exam will now commence at 2.15pm. Please ensure you meet us outside Boothroyd Hall at the latest 2.05pm.

If you are a travelling student you will be here in enough time as you are usually for lesson - so this is no excuse!

Mr. D

You will need a black pen!

Revision Strategies

Please note: You'll need to evidence 4 hours of revision by Monday 12/12/11

As you have your mock exam next week, we thought we'd collect some useful revision strategies in the one place for you. Try these on for size:

Re-read key section of Frankenstein - you may decide on key scenes by looking at key moments where the narrative is moved forward, characters are developed, themes are explored or motif used (think weather, violence, religious imagery).

Re-read the poems we've covered and develop further your annotations - look at the list of devices in your annotations book, choose one, for example Pathos/Bathos, and find examples of the technique across all the poems.

Complete poetry circles on key images from the novel and poems - W:\STUDENTS SHARED RESOURCES\English\A Level\Browning

Listen to the mp.3 files from our Tuesday lectures - W:\STUDENTS SHARED RESOURCES\English\A Level\Browning

Answer the 15 questions on the back page of you annotations books for all the poems we've covered. For each poem, record your answers on A4 paper and glue it to the edge of the pages for that poem.

Take some A3 paper from us - do a theme or character map. Find quotations and textual reference to evidence the themes (not give quotes was a key deficiency in your VIMAs)

Re-read all you wider reading for Browning. Then, combine the key points into a table by them or concept.

Review the material on Feminism, Karlin's Double Vision, The Philosophy of the Imperfect and Romanticism - create a PointPoint presentation that explains the concept and provide evidence from the poems.

Respond to the question on your revision cards - you have 150 questions of prompts to work from!!

Key features of the thought process for planning

Here are the key features of the thought processes behind planning and writing an A level response that you developed in lesson. Review them for you Mock Exam next week.

What is the question asking you to do?

What argument are you going to take? As a result what evidence do you have - or do you have to find evidence first?

Are there any literary ideas you can use to shape your argument (Karlin's Double Vision, Feminist reading, Philosophy of the Imperfect - or are you cirtical of this level of optimism? or Satire)

The thinking process before writing is as important (if not more) than the actual writing

How will i thread together my argument? When will i return to my argument to summarise - should i do this earlier that my conclusion?

What alternative/imaginative interpretations can i offer - why stick to the normal response?

Cheers,

Mr. D & Ms F

Some links c/o Olivia in regards to Frankenstein...

Here's some links to some gothic horror stuffs I like, (Jeffrey Comb's related things OBVIOUSLY)

A Clip of Comb's (the original Herbert West) reading the second from last chapter of H.P Lovecrafts Herbert West: Re-Animator, which is a homage to Frankenstein: http://fuckyeahjeffreycombs.tumblr.com/tagged/audiobook

A link to part 1 of the film adaption of Edgar Allen Poe's: The black cat, the rest can be found on youtube - warning this contains animal violence, blood and death: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xT0RV7CQFuU also its nto entirely the same as the book version but is still a good watch

A link to a website on H.P Lovecraft himself with all of his books on the website electronically for free reading: http://www.hplovecraft.com/

A similar website this time has all of the works by Edgar Allen Poe along with biography and stuff like that for an interesting read: http://poestories.com/index.php

Notes from today's lesson on Pictor Ignotus

Context to the poem
The poem's title is Latin for 'unknown painter', a note that Browning would have seen written in art catalogues or on gallery labels when he was looking at Renaissance art.

This dramatic monologue begins abruptly, with the speaker's claim that he would have painted in the style of the youth whose work is evidently admired by the 'you' of the poem. This youth is usually understood to be the celebrated and influential painter Raphael, who lived from 1483 to 1520.

It is a psychological study of a man who is incapable of making full use of his talents, but is at the same time keenly aware of what he might have been, in contrast to what he is.

Implicit throughout this monologue is the sense of the painter's failure, both as an artist and as a human being.

Plenary
In this dramatic monologue, Browning presents the reader with an image of what a man such as Fra Bartolommeo (real life character this poem is suggested to be base upon) may have been like, stressing his timidity and portraying him as considering heaven and worldly success as two mutually exclusive ambitions.

Thus, Browning creates a speaker who can be regarded as a failure because he has retreated from life and failed to use the gifts he has been given (opposite of the Philosophy of the imperfect).

Browning’s aim in this monologue is to present/depict men complete with their failings and the compromises they’ve had to make to achieve success.

The speaker here justifies his failures by claiming to reject the commercialisation of art, but he also suggests that he realises he has wasted his talents and that his creative spirit has been quenched.

He may claim that the worldly successes and praise are transitory, but Browning leaves the readers in no doubt that these rationalisations cannot obscure the truth that he has buried his talents and passions (through his withdrawal).

What am I responsible for each week...

We've had a high number of students not completing their weekly preparations and not bring the required resources to lessons. This puts extra pressure on the teaching staff as we have to catch up the work missed after school Tuesday and places pressure on our relationship as you are usually not impressed at being sent home to retrieve your resources or being kept behind on Tuesdays.

Record this check list in you planners and check everyday before you leave home!

• You must bring your Portifolio to each lesson



• You must have your annotations book on Monday and Tuesday



• Your yellow Frankenstein note book and Frankenstein text for Fridays

Everytime you forget a resource you miss vital teaching!

Also, people aren't completing the preparation for poetry lessons and it shows in some students' understanding already.

For each Monday, you must complete the diction column, highlight strong images and now you can find and explore an symbols in the poems. These are all elements you can do independently before teaching and are skills well below A Level difficulty.

Also for Monday, you need to complete the reading (none of which has been over an A4 page back and front). You need to highlight important information and then record the 10 most important points on paper and place these in your portfolio.

If you are given homework on Friday, it will be due the following Friday.

In Summary:
Poetry Homework Monday to Monday
Frankenstein Homework Friday to Friday
You must bring your Portifolio to each lesson
You must have your annotations book on Monday and Tuesday
Your yellow Frankenstein note book and Frankenstein text for Fridays

Work due on Monday 26/09/11

You should have by Monday...

Posted your creative response on the blog (thankyou for the excellent responses so far!)

Completed the poetry reading reading (Browning on Love) - the material should be annotated and notes in portfolio,

Completed preparatory annotations (diction column and highlighted strong imagery)

Lecture notes written up neatly (mp3 file avialable in the student shared area - W:\STUDENTS SHARED RESOURCES\English\A Level\Browning).

Those students not uptodate will remain after school Tuesday to ensure all is complete.

Mr. D/Ms. F

Frankenstein reading

All students must have completed the reading of Frankenstein by Friday the 23rd of September. You will be tested on your knowledge to check.

Strategy 1

Break your reading down:

Read the letters
University life and the build up to the creation of the monster
his return home
the consequences of his creation
the monster's story

Strategy 2
Set minimum amounts to read per night.

Let us know if you have any problems.

Welcome to A Level Literature

Welcome to all the new students who have applied to study Literature at A Level. We wish you all the best for you results day and hope to see you in September!

Mr. D, Ms. Foulds and Mrs. Gibbons

Poem Revision....

You need to revise, as a priority, the following poems:

Strange Meeting
Apologia Pro Poemate Meo
Anthem for Doomed Youth
Arms and the Boy
The Show
Futility
The Last Laugh
The Sentry
Mental Cases
A Terre

You should visit in the first instance, your annotations and notes from lessons and then the Wilfred Owen society for analysis (see weblink below).

These poems, although you may touch on the for Ao4 references, and hence need some limited revision, should not be on the exam as they have been named before.

Dulce Et Decorum Est
Exposure
Insensibility
Miners
Disabled

We'll discuss this in lesson and talk about what you'll need to show to evidence this revision.

Easter Revision School

On Wednesday the 13th of April, we'll be running a day of support to finalise your coursework essays. I will be at school from 8:00am and will be available for people to work through any coursework issues with me from this time. As people need varying levels of support, please take this into consideration when working out what time to arrive. All the English classrooms will be open for you to utilise computer facilities and you'll be able to print if required. The final coursework deadline, complete with bibliography is on the first day back, Tuesday 26th of April. Mr. D

Homework for Mr Leamon (Gatsby)

DUE THURS 13th.
Read chapter 2 and make notes on events and discussion points – as we talked about.
(N.B Last weeks ‘Contextual quotes traffic-lighting’ homework is due for Thursday too.)

DUE TUES 18th
Complete Chapter 1 sheet.

Mr. L

Books, books and more books

I have copies of The Great Gatsby for you to read (this must be finished before the holidays - we will provided some limited time for you to read in lessons).

I have order the other two texts, Oranges are not the only fruit, should be read over the holidays and finished for the first lesson back.

History boys, we will listen to the play in lesson, but you could read it through once at home - this will take no more that 2 hours.

You each owe the English Department £10, half the cost of books and postage. The should be given to me before Xmas. Please see me directy is this is an issue for you.

Mr. D

Programme and times of study...

Please enter the following arrangements and times of study for the next two weeks into your diaries in order for us to catchup on work missed.

Monday 15th November 3:10 - 4:10pm
Friday 19th November 4:00 - 5:00pm
Monday 22nd November 3:10 - 4:10pm (Milestone completed in this hour)
Friday 26th November 4:00 - 5:00pm

You will remain on Monday's for this hour. Attendance on Friday's is compulsory until we are back on track.

Mr. D

Sonnets – A Very brief history

Review the following information on Sonnets - you will be tested on this and if you don't know expect some extra research. You will need to know the poetic devices at work within the two sonnets rather than the historical information.

Sonnets are poems that usually explore one idea. The early sonnets used love as their theme. It is a very old form of poetry imported into England by Sir Thomas Wyatt in the early part of the sixteenth century. The name sonnet came from the Old French word for 'little song'. It has remained a popular form with poets because it is long enough to explore one idea, yet remains a challenge to the poet's craft.

Sonnets always have fourteen lines and usually rhyme.

They are usually written in iambic pentameter – ten syllables to each line arranged in 'feet' - a 'foot' is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. It sounds like a heartbeat:

The cur-few tolls the knell of par-ting day. (the bold means a stress)

There are two main forms of sonnet. They both have fourteen lines and rhyme. The difference is in the pattern of the rhymes, this pattern is known as the rhyme scheme.

Modern poets still use the sonnet form but they often break the rules. They use half-rhymes or no rhyme at all and use different rhythms; sometimes the only thing that makes them sonnets is the fact that they have fourteen lines.

The Two Main Types Of Sonnet

The Petrarchan, or Italian sonnet:

- 8 lines (an octave) asking a question, posing a problem, stating a difficulty or conveying a mood
- 6 (a sestet) lines answering the problem, resolving the problem or concluding the mood
- a rhyme scheme of a-b-b-a-a-b-b-a in the octave and c-d-e-c-d-e or c-d-c-d-c-d in the Sestet.

The Shakespearean, or English sonnet:

- 3 four-line chunks or quatrains. Each four-line quatrain adds a new point to an argument. A quatrain is often just one sentence.
- 1 two-line rhyming couplet. The couplet usually resolves the problem or argument, sometimes it reverses it.
- A rhyme scheme in the quatrains of a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f and g-g in the rhyming couplet.

Poetry Preparations...

Here's the order of poems you'll need to have completed in preparation before the lesson.

Anthem for Doomed Youth
Insensibility
Arms and the Boy
Apologia Por Poemate Meo
Futility
The Last Laugh
Strange Meeting
The Sentry
Disabled
Mental Cases
The Show
A Terre

• Don't forget it's the diction column (in full detail with connotation and denotation)
• The poets intended meaning
• Anything else is welcome too!

Mr. D

AS Literature Enrichment and Research Trip

Can you please leave a comment acknowledging that you have read this blog post. Please transfer any relevant details into your planner.

As part of your AS Literature Studies, we have organised a trip to central London for some literary enrichment and an opportunity to continue your research and understanding of World War 1 (and how it influenced Owen’s poetry).

On the day of the trip, 15/10/10, you will either meet Mr. Donovan and Mr. Leamon at Becontree Tube Station at 11.30am or travel to Tower Hill station by 12:30pm by yourself if you have lessons at any of the other consortium schools.

It is compulsory for you to attend as it is part of your Literature course; however, it may run slightly later than school hours. We envisage being back at Becontree Station no later than 6:00pm.

The first part of our trip will be a to attend a performance of, Not About Heroes, a play exploring the friendship of Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen. It will be performed at the Unicorn Theatre, and as the seating is unreserved we need to be there at least 30 minutes (1:00pm) before the performance to ensure we get decent seats. On this leg of the trip, there will be opportunities to grab a bite to eat if you haven’t had lunch.

From the theatre we will take the tube to Elephant & Castle station and then walk to the Imperial War Museum in Lambeth where we’ll spend about and hour and a half. There is no entry cost for the museum and whilst there we will visit the permanent First World War Galleries and Trench Experience. You will be given one of the following areas to research and your work will be collated for display upon our return to school.

The Origins and Outbreak of the War The Trenches
War in the Air The War at Sea
The Western Front Poets and Painters
The War on Other Fronts The Home Front

The Imperial War Museum also houses a large collection of art works, including the original, and full size, canvas Gassed, by John Stringer Sergeant. You will be required to complete a reflection on this whilst in attendance.

Things to bring:

A clip board (or something to lean on)
Some paper to take notes
An understanding that this is part of your course of study rather than an opportunity to mess around in public
A small amount of money to purchase a lunch
Your Oyster Card (or sufficient means to purchase a return ticket)

Mr. Donovan
Head of English

Welcome to prospective AS student...

Hope you enjoy the session today and it gives you a clear sense of what the study of literature is about...and also, what we are about as teachers - this is equally important!!

A few ground rules:

• Don't talk when I'm talking and I won't talk when you are;
• If you want to be treated like an adult - act like one;
• You're here to study Literature - not just to read books;
• If you don't like reading books, or reading at all, ask yourself, 'Why are you here?'
• Entry Requirement GCSE Lit B (Lit C by interview only).

If Literature is still for you, see you in September!

Mr. D & Mr. L

Novel...

If you are intending to continue with A2 Literature you'll need to secure a copy of Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, for our A2 lesson after the exam period.

I have ordered 10 copies at £2.50. First in best dressed othewise you'll have to order your own!

If you don't have it for the lessons you won't have access!!

Mr. D

Run up to the exams....

Here are the details of our class discussions on exam preparations...

Week Beginning 24/5/10: Lessons as normal as possible
29/05/10: Revision Day 9:00-till when we last (3-4ish?)
Week Beginning 07/06/10: Seminar in Hospitality Suite (with morning tea and lunch)

If you need extra support please see me directly!!!

Mr. D

Gatsby DVD

For those of you who are still struggling with the text, I found a copy of the DVD on Amazon that only costs £3.55 with postage. It be worth some of you getting hold of a copy.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Gatsby-DVD-Robert-Redford/dp/B0000A5BT1/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1273662948&sr=1-1

Thanks
Mrs Gibbons

English and Media Centre...

As mentioned in lesson, I've purchased a subscription to the English and Media centre's website.

Here are our login details for www.emagazine.org.uk

These will be active until August 31st 2010 and can be used on you home computers.

username - emagazine7
password - z94k33

Please scan old issues for pertinant reading materials for your coursework and exam studies!

Mr. D

Friday night coursework session...

Having trouble finalising your plan? Can't polish your introduction? Pulling your hair out and want to avoid looking like Mr.D?

Friday night after school this week and every week till Easter if needed...coursework help in EN1.

I'll talk to you about it in lessons...

Link to map for Westbury centre...

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=The%20Westbury%20Centre&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&oe=utf8&redir_esc=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wl

A LEVEL ENGLISH LITERATURE REVISION COURSE

All sessions are on Level 3 at The Westbury Centre, Ripple Road, Barking IG11
7PT. I will post a map to show where to find the centre.

Make sure you know when your sessions are:

1. 
   Gatsby Wed 24/03/10 1.00 - 4.00pm with Ian Starling – WARREN + JRCS
2. Owen Thursday 25/01/10 9.00am - 12.00pm – Rob Deeney JRCS + DP
   

Please arrive on time; the teachers have worked hard to make the sessions useful for you.

It is compulsory that you attend the sessions that have been arranged for you. A register will be taken and faxed back to your school the same day. You will need to see me with a moving story of woe not to be able to attend.

Please tale a copy of the texts that you are studying as well as a pen and a notepad.

There will be a 20 minute break half way through each session. If you are there for the whole day please bring a packed lunch.

The canteen on Level 5 will be open at break times and at lunchtime. You may buy soft drinks or crisps etc but should return to Level 3 straightaway.

Please remember that The Westbury Centre is an adult workplace, but enjoy the sessions and learn as much as you can from them.

Updated information...

Please check the independent work/homework page for updated list of poems required for preparation and the new homework task!

Regards,

Mr. D

Our Trip to the Southbank and the Imperial War Museum

Next week's trip!

Looking forward to our trip next week?... Here's a few photos of what to expect...books...I know ....sooo exciting (okay, so I'm an English teacher - you expect this!)






Mr. D

Milestones...

Although the final deadline for milestone grades is a couple of weeks away, we will be having ours this week. Firstly, on Wednesday, you'll have a milestone assessment for The Great Gatsby.

Then on Thursday, you'll have a milestone assessment on Owen's Insesibility or Dulce Et Docurum Est.

Please ensure you revisit any context or lesson notes.

Mr. D & Ms H

Some information on beginning your course of study...

Bridging the gap from GCSE...

Don't be surprised or dismayed by the feeling you will almost certainly have in the few weeks of your sixth-form course that the gap between GCSE and AS seems rather wide. A wider range of more demanding texts will make you feel that the subject has changed - some of the set books, genres and periods will be completely new to you, and some you may never even have heard of!

You may be ready for authors or genres you did not appreciate before, and you will continue to develop as a reader throughout the course. You may, for instance, enjoy poetry more at the end of the course than the beginning.

It may seem strange that you will be studying only six texts per year, but this does not mean that you can be leisurely in your work habits; enlightenment, expertise and reaching examination standard come from thorough study and extensive rereading.

You may be disappointed to learn that there isn't much scope for creative writing. You may use it to access a text or one of its ideas, but you won't be assessed on it. You must also be warned that there will not be any 'spoon feeding' - you will have to rely on your own responses and research skills. There is no place at AS for tkaing down dictation from the teacher, or copying notes from the whiteboard or textbook. You can, however, still expect some help with organising your thoughts and structuring essays and exam style responses.

Wider reading is less of an option and more of a necessity; its something you can do from the outset to become a more independent and better informed student. If you got way with bad habits at GCSE, such as not planning essays or not taking notes in class, or disregarding advice given on returned written work - you will now have to be prepared to acquire better practices.


AS Literature Outline

Studying for these qualifications will enable you to develop:

• your interests in and enjoyment of reading and discussing literary texts;
• your knowledge and understanding of a wide range of English literature texts;
• your skills of literary analysis.

This qualification gives you the opportunity to study literature across the genres of prose, poetry and drama, and to read around concepts of literature and literary analysis. To get the AS qualification, you’ll need to cover six texts and then another six texts to get the A level qualification, and it is possible to choose texts that link together or contrast with each other.

Before you start this qualification it is usual to have a GCSE in English or English Literature (at least at Grade B at JRCS). The emphasis is on progression from GCSE to the AS qualification and progression from the full A level towards study in Higher Education. English Literature combines well with many other subjects. History, Classics and Modern Foreign Languages are particularly suitable, but it can also be a valuable contrast to scientific, technological and economics-based subjects.

If you are considering going on to Higher Education, the English Literature qualification provides a wide range of opportunities for degree courses in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. The English Literature qualification is also welcomed for many different careers because it emphasises creativity, disciplined thought and communication, plus an ability to synthesise and contextualise ideas.

Requirements of the qualifications:

To get a certificate for Advanced Subsidiary GCE, you will need to have studied for and been assessed on the two mandatory AS units (F661 and F662).

To get a certificate for Advanced GCE A level, you will need to have studied for and been assessed on the two mandatory A2 units (F663 and F664), in addition to the two AS units.

Assessment Units:

AS Unit F661: Poetry and Prose 1800-1945 (closed text examination)
This is a two-hour examination, divided into Section A (poetry) and Section B (prose). You have to answer two essay-style questions, one from Section A and one from Section B, based on the set texts you have studied.

Section A - you answer one question on one poem, written by a poet you have studied, and you are expected to make appropriate reference to other poems by the same poet. This is a closed text examination, so you do not take any books or copies of the poem into the examination room with you. The poems on which the questions are set will be printed in the examination paper.


Section B - there is a choice of two questions on each set text and you answer one question.
You will need to:

• respond to the proposition in the question and discuss how themes and issues
are presented;
• demonstrate an understanding of literary-critical concepts and approaches, which you will have studied from the complementary literary-critical text.

AS Unit F662: Literature post-1900 (coursework)
In this unit you complete two pieces of writing based on three texts chosen the Mr. D, KS5 Coordinator

First piece of writing: this is a close, critical analysis of a section of one chosen text or poem. This should be approximately 1000 words.

Second piece of writing: this must be an essay considering two texts, exploring contrasts and comparisons between them, informed by interpretations of other readers. This should be approximately 2000 words.

The work submitted cannot be any longer than 3,000 words in total. It is assessed by Miss Havis & Mr. Donovan and moderated by OCR.

References...

The link that follows below is from the University of Westminster and has excellent information on how to reference literary criticisms etc... in your bibliography.

http://www.wmin.ac.uk/page-8424

You should use this as your guide. Any variants from the appropriate techniques will be rejected and will need to be redone!

Mr. D

Items for this week's lessons....

As you already know, next week we are starting to look at your coursework texts. The theme for your coursework is ‘Innocence to Experience’ which you are going to explore in my lessons. As well as introducing the texts, we will be looking at the definitions of these two key words and how much impact they have on our lives.

I would like you to bring three-four photographs to lessons with you: one of when you were a baby/early years, one of you around primary age and a recent photograph. If possible I would like them to be personal photos not the ones we take in school, although I will dig them out of Mr Smith’s archives if you fail to bring any in! If the photos are sentimental, then photocopies will do. Students in Monday’s lesson are being observed so it is really important that you bring the correct resources for the lesson. Please let me know if there are any problems.

Thanks

Mrs Hulbert

Some research and wider reading...

I've placed this link in the websites to visit, but will also post it here. It contains very well organised information on Siegfried Sassoon. It will be good wider reading for our lesson which focuses onthe critique of those who lacked sympathy:

http://www.ppu.org.uk/people/sassoon.html

Concerns

I am becoming increasingly concerned by the amount of students who are failing to meet deadlines. These are set in place to help you manage the course and ensure that you are able to complete the syllabus by the exam and coursework date.

With the onset of your coursework in two weeks time, you must ensure that you keep up. Failure to do so may result in us being unable to submit your coursework to the board on time, losing you 40% of your final grade.

If you are in 12B, I will be checking your books to make sure your notes are up to date on Thursday. 12D you need to make sure that you have summary notes on each chapter in your books for Thursday’s lesson. If exercise books are not bought to the lesson, I will assume that they are incomplete.


Thanks

Mrs Hulbert

12B's trip to Southbank Book Market and the Imperial War Museum...

Again, great weather, a little cold, but fun had by all!





Bradley meets some of the Southbank locals...

















Browsing for a bargain...







Tim had a fascination with all of the bombs!

Annotations....

All annotations must be complete by 28th November 2008. No gaps - no exceptions!

Coursework texts...

I'm aware that Mrs. Hulbert has been talking to you about purchasing these texts in her lessons and I have also mentioned several times the need to buy (and read) them.

Please purchase:

Oranges are not the Only Fruit (Jean Winterson)

The History Boys (Alan Bennett)

You will be required to have both texts as soon as possible - 29th November at the latest (this will only leave you a week to read it though!). Please let us know if you have any difficulties in purchasing these texts. If you wish to purchase them off Amazon etc..., but don't have keycard speak to us and we can, upon the presentation of the money, use our cards to buy for you - Amazon also give free delivery for multiple purchases so get together with a few others!

You will need to read Oranges by the time we start our introductions to the coursework requirements and the theme of study. This will happen in the last two weeks of this term which gives you another 2-3 weeks to get this read (by the 8th December). It is not a particularly long text, and you must realise this is a first reading and you shouldn't get too bogged down in any difficulties you have in understanding as this will come with successive reads (yes, you must read it more than once!!)

You can then read History Boys over the Xmas holidays (I will also put the film on before the holidays - after school sometime) and when we return to school be prepared for the proper start of lessons on the texts - we will not read the entire text in lessons - we will only touch on passages that support our thematic concerns and the completion of your comparative coursework requirement.

And yes, during this period of time we will still be completing work on Fitzgerald and Owen, including exam essay writing practice for Milestone grades!

Don't leave your concerns to the last minute! See us in advance so we can support you appropriately.

Mr. D & Mrs. Hulbert

12D's trip to the Southbank Book Market and Imperial War Museum...

A great afternoon had by all - looking forward to doing it again with 12B!

If you were on this trip, can you leave your reflections of the afternoon and some of what you saw at the war museum!

Enrichment and Research Trip Update...

As you all should be aware, the enrichment and research trip is back on for the following dates:

12D on the 4/11/08 (instead of class Period 5 Tuesdays)


12B on the 20/11/08 (instead of class Period 5 Thursdays)

On both occasions, Mr D will be waiting in the egg from 1.25pm for a 1.30pm departure - if we've already left and are walking down to Becontree - run!

If you are at another consortium location you'll need to make you way, as per the instructions on the note, to Embankment Tube Station by 2.30pm.

Please see me for a note if you don't have one as it contains important information regarding what you need to bring etc...

Mr. D

Last week of half term...

As I will be away from Tuesday to Thursday this week, you 'll either have a cover teacher or be advised to complete work in the library or common-room. Either way, the tasks you'll need to complete are the same and require little input from the staff supervising anyway.

You need to complete the following work:

1. Complete any outstanding annotations from the poems we've covered - this now includes: Apologia..., Exposure, Futility, The Last Laugh and Stange Meeting.

2. Prepare for all the remaining poems - this means read them (several times), complete the diction column and the intended meaning.

3. Complete the homework tasks as instructed on the Independent study and Homework archive.

You may like, and I strongly suggest you should consider, doing this work in pairs or small groups. This will help, in my absence, with any problems you may face with either language, structural or form issues!

All this work should be complete by the first day back from half-term and whilst I agree the break should be a time for rest and relaxation it should also be a time for catching up on the knowledge from this half term and any work you've failed to complete!!!!!!

Good Luck and may the force be with you!

Mr. D

NOTE: I'll be available via email and via the comment link on this post to answer questions during the next two weeks

Important information on preparation for lessons...

Firstly, with a few people being away due to study sessions or others consortium commitments the order of which we are studying the poems has shifted a little.

You should read them in preparation for the upcoming lesson - something which is not happening - this is making it difficult for you to access the lesson, difficult for me to teach the lesson and difficult for those students in the class who have taken the time to prepare.

As a result, I'm going to be looking for annotations to be started before you enter the class for the lesson.

You should, at minimum, have noted the diction of the poem and have evidence that you have explored the meaning of the words you don't understand. You should also have a preliminary paragraph written on the poem's intended meaning.

The order of poems are as follows -

Exposure
Futility
The Last Laugh
Strange Meeting
The Sentry
The Show
Miners
Disabled
Mental Cases
A Terre

Postponed Trips...

Please be advised that the English trip to the Imperial War Museum has had to be postponed this week to a later date. You will have a normal lessons on Thursday and next Tuesday afternoon.

Any questions please see myself or Mr D. If possible, please could you pass this message on to anyone who I might have missed this message.

Many Thanks

Mrs Hulbert/Mr. D

Deadlines for Work books checks.....

If you receive an extension for work you have failed to complete, you must see me on the day your extension is granted to for resubmission.

If that means seeing me outside of our timetabled lessons so be it (this may be different for those not at JRCS as your home school - I'll take this into consideration when setting you a deadline).

This includes this Wednesday if you have study skills and miss some of our lesson time together. I'll be in my office from 8am and you can also see me and break and lunchtime!

There is really no excuse.

Mr. D

Dates for Mr. Donovan's Milestone Assessment...

12D Period 2 Friday 26th September

12B Period 4 Monday 29th September

If you are late you will not be allowed into the classroom and therefore will not complete the assessment.

During these assessments your workbooks will be checked as well - there were still people in lesson today who hadn't glued in their poems, stuck the notes into the appropriate place and hadn't completed the some of the research.

Failure to complete either the Milestone Assessment, submit a workbook or submit an incomplete workbook by these dates (unless you've negotiated with me in person) will result in you not attending next week's enrichment/research trip and you'll stay at school to complete work. Furthermore, not meeting these deadlines will also result in questions being asked about your suitability for the subject.

Mr. D

Imagery Chart for Insensibility..

This chart is now in the shared area - great help for your annotations!

Mr. D

Milestone Assessment for 'The Great Gatsby'...

As more and more of you ask about your milestone assessment, please be aware that you will be assessed on your understanding of the first 4 chapters and the context of the novel itself.

I offer no more hints than that!

Thanks
Mrs Hulbert

Tess of the D'Urbervilles...

BBC 1 are currently showing an adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s novel ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’. It is one of the set texts for the prose exam.

Although we have chosen to study ‘The Great Gatsby’ it is a great example of some the texts you should be reading at home. Why not watch the series and then dip into the novel? It is shown at 9pm on a Sunday evening but the previous weeks episode is also repeated at 5.30 Sunday afternoon in case you missed one.

Enjoy
Mrs Hulbert

A visit to Waterstones...

I had a wander in Waterstones on the weekend. They have a large collection of study guides for AS Literature - however, be careful that they are not for the old specification (different requirements and texts now). Also, ensure they are for the correct exam board (OCR).

I purchased the book below as it is a good general study guide - come and have a look if you think you need to revise some of your key skills!

AS In a Week: English Literature - AS in a Week S.
Format: Paperback 112 pages
Date of publish: 31/01/2006
Publisher: Letts Educational
Usually despatched within 7-10 days
£7.99

You can follow this link to purchase it on the internet! If you were organised, two or three of you may want to order together to take advantage of their free delivery over £15!

http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/simpleSearch.do?simpleSearchString=+as+in+a+week&searchType=3

You could also visit this link to buy the Critical Theory book required by Mrs. Hulbert.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Fiction-Illustrated-Classic-Modern/dp/0140174923

Mr. D

Next week's Milestone Assessment...

Next week's Milestone Assessment is structured as the actual exam you'll face to obtain a passing grade in Unit f661: Poetry and Prose 1800 - 1945.

In preparation for Section A: Poetry you need to be aware that the unit will assess you on Assessment Objectives 1, 2, & 4. They are listed on the left hand side of the blog and you'll need to be aware of them before attempting the Milestone Assessment.

Whilst you won't know the question and its particularities before the actual exam, you will need to know the poem, which is Insensibility. Furthermore, whilst AO1 and AO2 are similar to the assessment objectives of GCSE (although the difficulty has increased), you should take note of the differing requirements of AO4.

Asking me questions in relation to the AOs would best be done before the actual Milestone Assessment. These questions will not be answered on the day or during the exam.

Please note that Mrs. Hulbert may have specific instructions for her Milestone Assessment and you should direct queries about The Great Gatsby to her before her exam.

Mr. D

Computer access for students from other consortium schools...

Mrs. Wren has organising a guest username and password for you to access the intranet and then organise your own JRCS username and password.

Log in using the following username and password:

username: 6formguest
password: guest

Then email ahaynes@jrcs.bardgalea.org.uk your first and last name. He will create your JRCS account which will be:

your username will be first letter of name and your surname (e.g mine is - adonovan)
your passwork will be: password - then you can change you password once you've logged in (ensure you do this so no one can miss use your account).

Any problems see me, Mrs Hulbert or 6th form staff!

Mr. D

A general observation...

I noted today that some people hadn't printed and review notes from last weeks lessons. If you fail to keep up with the organisation of notes/resources you'll fall behind very quickly. However, this can be rectified with a little work.

What will be harder for you to rectify are the gaps in your knowledge and ability in the weeks to come!

By now you should have an awareness of the different poetic feet we've looked at and the difference between the four stages of consciousness of WW1 poetry. You shouldn't be an expert on it, yet, but we expect that you've revised all the content covered last week so you can apply it this week and in the future. This also goes for the work covered in Mrs. Hulbert's lessons too!

In your upcoming milestone assessments you will need to show knowledge of these elements.

Any probs etc... see me

Mr. D

e e cummings homework...

Firstly, thanks to Sam for posting a link to a internet site which dicussed the poem - which is exactly what the comment section is for. However, I should warn you though that not everything you find on the internet is of 'quality' and cannot substitute for you actually using your own head.

A reflection requires 'you' to read the poem and have a think about it and to possibly discuss it with others in the course.

However, I have placed a web link on our blog which deals with e e cummings for you, which incidently is of better quality and doesn't give you an 'answer' in the form of an essay written by a high school student but rather information to inform your reflection and thinking.

Remember, the task requires you to respond in paragraphed notes in a discursive style - this is what I'll be looking for when i check you books!

Mr. D

Indepedent Research and Homework...

Have you checked the link to the archive for your first independent research task? There is also a poetry reflection from lesson 2 which you'll need to prepare for lesson 3 discussion!

Mr. D

Looking for a good book?

Why not visit the Southbank book market next time you're in London - it's open 7 days a week!



You could even make a day of it - as the market is just outside the IMAX movie theatre and a great range of coffee shops!

Independent Task and Homework task link...

The Independent task and Homework task link has been added underneath blog archive on the left hand side of the blog - this is where you'll find all the hours of fun waiting for you!

regards,

Mr. D

No idea what to read? Here, try this for a start!

This list contains Classics, Poetry, Literary Fiction, Romantic Fiction, Children's Books, Science Fiction, Crime, Books that Changed the World, Books to Change your World and Historic Lives for you to read and explore. I haven't placed the above categories within the list - that's for you to decide.

If you read one (or more) why don't you leave your thoughts or a comment for other students in the course!

Mr. D

The Illiad and The Odyssey - Homer
Set during the Trojan War, The Iliad combines battle scenes with a debate about heroism; Odysseus' thwarted attempts to return to Ithaca when the war ends form The Odyssey. Its symbolic evocation of human life as an epic journey homewards has inspired everything from James Joyce's Ulysses to the Coen brothers' film, O Brother Where Art Thou?.

The Barchester Chronicles - Anthony Trollope
A story set in a fictional cathedral town about the squabbles and power struggles of the clergy? It doesn’t sound promising, but Trollope's sparklingly satirical novels are among the best-loved books of all time.

Gulliver's Travels - Jonathan Swift
Swift's scathing satire shows humans at their worst: whether diminished (in Lilliput) or grossly magnified (in Brobdingnag). Our capacity for self-delusion – personified by the absurdly pompous Gulliver – makes this darkest of novels very funny.

Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
Flaubert's finely crafted novel tells the story of Emma, a bored provincial wife who comforts herself with shopping and affairs. It doesn't end well.

David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
David's journey to adulthood is filled with difficult choices – and a huge cast of characters, from the treacherous Steerforth to the comical Mr Micawber.

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Heroine meets hero and hates him. Is charmed by a cad. A family crisis – caused by the cad – is resolved by the hero. The heroine sees him for what he really is and realises (after visiting his enormous house) that she loves him. The plot has been endlessly borrowed, but few authors have written anything as witty or profound as Pride and Prejudice.

Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë
Cruelty, hypocrisy, dashed hopes: Jane Eyre faces them all, yet her individuality triumphs. Her relationship with Rochester has such emotional power that it's hard to believe these characters never lived.

War and Peace - Tolstoy
Tolstoy's masterpiece is so enormous even the author said it couldn't be described as a novel. But the characters of Andrei, Pierre and Natasha – and the tragic and unexpected way their lives intersect – grip you for all 1,400 pages.

Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
'"I'm no Angel," answered Miss Rebecca. And to tell the truth, she was not.' Whether we should judge the cunning, amoral Becky Sharp – or the hypocritical society she inhabits – is the question.

Middlemarch - George Eliot
Dorothea wastes her youth on a creepy, elderly scholar. Lydgate marries the beautiful but self-absorbed Rosamund. George Eliot's characters make terrible mistakes, but we never lose empathy with them.

Sonnets - Shakespeare
Shakespeare's sonnets contain some of poetry's most iconic lines – and a mysterious insight into his personal life.

Divine Comedy - Dante
Dante Alighieri's epic tale of one man's journey into the afterlife is considered Italy's finest literary export.

Canterbury Tales - Chaucer
These humorous tales about fictional pilgrims made an important contribution to English literature at a time when court poetry was written in either Anglo-Norman or Latin.

The Prelude - William Wordsworth
This posthumously published work is both an autobiographical journey and a fragment of history from the revolutionary and post-revolutionary years.

Odes - John Keats
Littered with sensuous descriptions of nature's beauty, Keats's odes also pose profound philosophical questions.

Paradise Lost - John Milton
Since its publication in 1667, Milton’s 12-book English epic – in which he sets out to 'justify the ways of God to men' has been considered a classic.

The Waste Land - T. S. Eliot
Eliot's vision of dystopia became a literary landmark, and introduced new techniques to the modern poet. He remains one of the defining figures of 20th-century poetry.

Songs of Innocence and Experience - William Blake
Blake's short poems are simple in rhythm and rhyme, but sophisticated in meaning. Written during a time of political turmoil, they embody his radical sympathies and anti-dualist ideas.

Collected Poems - W. B. Yeats
Considered a driving force in the revival of Irish literature, Yeats fruitfully engages the topics of youth, love, nature, art and war.

Collected Poems - Ted Hughes
Although Hughes was a colossal presence among the English literary landscape – his work often draws upon the forbidding Yorkshire countryside of his youth – his personal life had a tendency to overshadow his talent.

The Portrait of a Lady - Henry James
James's mastery of psychology has never been more elegantly expressed nor more gripping than in his tale of Isabel Archer, a young American in search of her destiny, and Gilbert Osmond, the ultimate cold fish and one of literature's most repellent villains.

A la recherche du temps perdu - Proust
A novel whose every sentence can be a struggle to finish may sound forbidding, but this masterpiece of modernity, takes us into every nook and cranny of the narrator's fascinating mind, is worth the effort.

Ulysses - James Joyce
Banned in Britain and America for its depiction of female masturbation, Joyce's Ulysses takes its scatological stand at the pinnacle of modernist literature. Lyrical and witty, its stream-of-consciousness narration deters many, but makes enraptured enthusiasts of others.

For Whom the Bell Tolls - Ernest Hemingway
A sparse, masculine, world-weary meditation on death, ideology and the savagery of war in general, and the Spanish civil war in particular.

Sword of Honour trilogy - Evelyn Waugh
A poignant, ironic study of the disintegration of aristocratic values in the face of blank bureaucracy and Second World War butchery, Men at Arms, Officers and Gentlemen and Unconditional Surrender are Waugh's crowning achievements.

The Ballad of Peckham Rye - Muriel Spark
Comic, satirical and ineffably odd, Spark's fifth novel introduces Dougal Douglas, ghost-writer, researcher, mysterious figure of Satanic magnetism and mayhem, to the upper working-class/ lower middle-class milieu of Peckham.

Rabbit series - John Updike
We first meet Harry 'Rabbit' Angstrom in Rabbit, Run, as a boorish, unhappy former basketball jock who runs from (and to) his pregnant wife. The novels that follow cover 30 years and make up the great study of American manhood.
One Hundred Years of Solitude- Gabriel García Márquez
The greatest moment in magical realist fiction, García Márquez's passionate, humorous history of Macondo and its founding family, the Buendías, has the seductive power of myth.

Beloved - Toni Morrison
Morrison brought to life a version of the slave narrative that has become a classic. Her tour de force of guilt, abandonment and revenge plays out against the background of pre-emancipation American life.

The Human Stain - Philip Roth
Roth's brilliant, angry dissection of race, disgrace and hypocrisy in Clinton-Lewinsky era America brings to a close his grand and meticulous American trilogy (American Pastoral, I Married a Communist).

Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier
Cornish estate owner Maximilian de Winter's second wife – also the nameless narrator – is haunted by the housekeeper's oppressive worship of her predecessor, Rebecca. A masterful tale of suspense.

Le Morte D'Arthur - Thomas Malory
Malory's yarn explores the possibility that chivalry is best revealed by a knight's loyalty to his fellow knights, and not simply his devotion to a woman.

Les Liaisons Dangereuses - Choderlos de Laclos
Paris in the 18th century: the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont concoct a scheme of seduction to entrap members of the aristocracy. Their roguish machinations lead to their climactic undoing.

I, Claudius - Robert Graves
An invented autobiographical account of Claudius, the fourth emperor of ancient Rome. Graves draws upon the historical texts of Tacitus and Suetonius to write Claudius's story after claiming a visitation from the ancient ruler in his dreams.

Alexander Trilogy - Mary Renault
Renault transports readers to Ancient Greece in a historical trilogy that presents the life and legacy of Alexander the Great in a humanising fictional portrait.

Master and Commander - Patrick O'Brian
Set during the Napoleonic Wars, O'Brian's books journey the seas with Commander Aubrey and his crew aboard HMS Sophie. The novel follows Aubrey's convincing and complex friendship with Maturin, the ship's surgeon, as they fight enemies and storms.

Gone with the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
Scarlett O'Hara manipulates her way through the American civil war. This selfish, but gutsy heroine idealises the unattainable Ashley before realising her love for her third husband, Rhett, who dismisses her with, 'My dear, I don't give a damn.'

Dr Zhivago - Boris Pasternak
Yuri Zhivago loves two women, his wife, Tonya, and the captivating Lara. Pasternak juxtaposes romance with the stark brutality of the Russian civil war in this extraordinary historical epic.

Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
Disgraced by an illegitimate child, Tess is tainted with shame and guilt, which destroys her marriage to Angel Clare. She emerges as a tragic heroine, incapable of escaping the hypocrisy of Victorian society.

The Plantagenet Saga - Jean Plaidy
A collection of novels inspired by the Plantagenet dynasty. Jean Plaidy is one of the many noms de plume of Eleanor Alice Burford Hibbert, the celebrated historical fiction writer, who died in 1993.

Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
Four children sail to Wildcat Island, where they encounter a rival camping party then join forces to hunt treasure. Robinson Crusoe meets The Famous Five in a tale of sailing and ginger beer.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy discover the land of Narnia and the malevolent White Witch. The novel uses Christian iconography in Aslan's dramatic sacrifice and resurrection. Edmund's transition from self-interested schoolboy to heroic young man is also resonantly spiritual.

The Lord of the Rings - J.R. R. Tolkien
Frodo and friends journey to Mordor to destroy the ring, making the young Hobbit one of the greatest fictional heroes of all time. More than 100million copies have been sold of the trilogy that brought fantasy to a mainstream literary audience.

His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Will is a boy from Oxford. Lyra is a girl from Oxford in a parallel world. Together they have an epic adventure spanning parallel universes. The trilogy has inspired criticism for being heretical – Pullman himself declared the books were about 'killing God'.

Babar - Jean de Brunhoff
Babar brings clothes and cars (and Madame) from Paris to his African kingdom. With his family and the wise Cornelius by his side, Babar protects his land from the Rhino King Rataxes. The big, beautiful books are enriched by Brunhoff's wonderful illustrations.

The Railway Children - E. Nesbit
Nesbit’s classic, made famous by the 1970 film, tells of how Bobby, Phyllis and Pete, missing their beloved father, adapt to a poverty-stricken life in the country, helped by Mr Perks, the Old Gentleman, and by waving to the train.

Winnie-the-Pooh - A.A. Milne
The Silly Old Bear, with his friends in Hundred Acre Wood, is more than a British institution. A.A. Milne created a life philosophy with the trials, triumphs and tiddley-poms of the honey-loving, always kind-hearted Pooh.

Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling
The boy wizard's dealings with the forces of adolescence and evil have sold more than 350million books in 65 languages. The Harry Potter phenomenon has its detractors, but the success of special 'grown-up' covers, allowing commuters to read Rowling without shame, tells its own tale.

The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
Lonely and miserable trying to clean his hole, Mole ventures outside. He meets Ratty, Toad and Badger, and embarks on a new life defending Toad Hall from the weasels, protecting Toad from himself and messing about in boats.

Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson
The piratical coming of age of Jim Hawkins, who discovers a map of Treasure Island among an old sea captain's possessions – and then follows it. Parrots, 'pieces of eight' and the lovable, but morally ambiguous Long John Silver.

Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
The great genius of Shelley's novel has often been overwhelmed by images of schlocky bolt-necked 'Frankensteins'. Brought to life by Dr Victor Frankenstein, Shelley’s creature is part gothic monster, part Romantic hero.

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne
Among the deep-sea volcanoes, shoals of swirling fish, giant squid and sharks, Captain Nemo steers the Nautilus. Nemo is the renegade scientist par excellence, a man madly inventive in his quest for revenge.

The Time Machine - H.G. Wells
A seminal work of dystopian fiction, Wells's tale of the voyages of the Time Traveller in the distant future (AD802,701) is also a cracking adventure story.

Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
Ignorance is far from bliss in Huxley’s terrible vision of a future of rampant consumerism, worthless free love, routine drug use and cultural passivity.

1984 - George Orwell
So persuasive and chilling was the world summoned up here that 'Orwellian' has entered the language as shorthand for government control. Chilling, wry and romantic, it is above all a passionate cry for freedom.

The Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham
Shifty Soviets and the clipped vernacular make this a Fifties horror story. But as humans cope with disasters (mass blinding by meteor shower; ruthless walking, flesh-eating plants) the tale becomes taut, terrifying, and far from ridiculous.

Foundation - Isaac Asimov
'Great Galaxy!' It is not for literary brilliance that one approaches the first in the Foundation series, but rather for the sweeping grandeur of Asimov’s epic universe-wide tale of the decline and fall of empires. Once you've finished this, 14 novels and countless more short stories await.

2001: A Space Odyssey - Arthur C. Clarke
The first in Clarke's quartet was written as a novel and, in collaboration with Stanley Kubrick, as a film script. As the Discovery One mission drifts towards Saturn, Clarke creates the embodiment of the perils of computer technology, HAL9000.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick
Dick's masterpiece questions what it is that distinguishes us as human, as we follow Rick Deckard on his mission to 'retire' recalcitrant androids. Spawned Ridley Scott's Blade Runner.

Neuromancer - William Gibson
A violent slab of cyberpunk sci-fi, in which techie activities (artificial intelligence, hacking, virtual reality) are married with a grimy, anarchic, slangy sensibility, and a cast of hustlers, hackers and junkies trying to make sense of a world ruled by corporations.

The Talented Mr Ripley - Patricia Highsmith
Tom Ripley is one of 20th-century literature's most disturbingly fascinating characters: a suave, charming serial killer, who's utterly amoral in his pursuit of la dolce vita.

The Maltese Falcon - Dashiell Hammett
A tale of greed and deceit that's also the archetypal work of 20th-century detective fiction: complete with flawed hero (Sam Spade), femme fatale and a convoluted plot that unravels grippingly.

The Complete Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
It's one of literature's most wonderful ironies that Conan Doyle himself became a spiritualist so soon after creating the most famously rational character in all literature.

The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler
His oeuvre may be small, but with the help of long-time protagonist PI Philip Marlowe – who appears here for the first time – Chandler helped define the genres of detective fiction and, later, film noir.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - John le Carré
Le Carré, master of the Cold War novel, follows British spymaster George Smiley as he tries to uncover a Moscow mole, and faces his KGB nemesis, Karla.

Red Dragon - Thomas Harris
Hannibal Lecter's second literary appearance sees him called upon by old FBI chum (and near-victim) Will Graham, to help solve the case of the serially morbid 'Tooth Fairy'.

Murder on the Orient Express - Agatha Christie
From Istanbul to London, Hercule Poirot's little grey cells rattle away to improbable effect as he untangles the mystery of the life and violent death of a sinister passenger.

The Murders in the Rue Morgue - Edgar Allan Poe
Poe's blackly ingenious tale of brutal murder in 19th-century Paris establishes C. Auguste Dupin, a man of 'peculiar analytic ability', as the model for pretty much every intellectual detective to come.

Das Kapital - Karl Marx
His thinking may not be as popular as it was in the Sixties and Seventies, but it's as relevant. The cardinal critique of the capitalist system.

The Rights of Man - Tom Paine
Written during the heady days of the French Revolution, Paine's pamphlet - by introducing the concept of human rights - remains one of modern democracy's fundamental texts.

The Social Contract - Jean-Jacques Rousseau
'Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains.' How are we to reconcile our individual rights and freedoms with living in a society?

Democracy in America - Alexis de Tocqueville
This treatise looked to the new country's flourishing democracy in the early 19th century and the progressive model it offered ‘old’ Europe.

On War - Carl von Clausewitz
The first, and probably still foremost, treatise on the art of modern warfare. The Prussian general looked beyond the battlefield to war's place in the broader political context.

On the Origin of Species - Charles Darwin
No other book has so transformed how we look at the natural world and mankind's origins.

The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli
Written during his exile from the Florentine Republic, Machiavelli's bible of realpolitik offers the ultimate mandate for those (still-too-many) politicians who value keeping power above dispensing justice.

Leviathan - Thomas Hobbes
Hobbes's call for rule by an absolute sovereign may not sound too progressive, but it was based on the then-groundbreaking belief that all men are naturally equal.

On the Interpretation of Dreams - Sigmund Freud
Drawing on his own dreams, plus those of his patients, Freud asserted that dreams – by tapping into our unconscious – held the key to understanding what makes us tick.

L'Encyclopédie - Diderot, et al
Subtitled 'A Systematic Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts, and Crafts', with contributions by Voltaire, Montesquieu, Diderot and others, the 35-volume encyclopedia was the ultimate document of Enlightenment thought.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert M. Pirsig
Pirsig's feel-good memoir about a father-son motorcycle trip across America became the biggest-selling philosophy book of all time.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull - Richard Bach
Bach's fable about a dreamy seagull called Jonathan, who seeks to soar above the ideology of his flock, became a New Age classic, and is dedicated to the 'real seagull in all of us'.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
Originally broadcast on Radio 4, this quotable comedy about a hapless Englishman and his alien friend proved that sci-fi could be clever and funny.

The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell
Gladwell uses everything from teenage smoking to Sesame Street to show how one person's small idea, or way of thinking, can spark a social epidemi

The Beauty Myth - Naomi Wolf
Wolf, the controversial American feminist (and teenage victim of anorexia), argues that women's insecurities stem from society's demands on them either to be beautiful or face judgment.

A Child Called 'It' - Dave Pelzer
Pelzer's graphic account of his abusive childhood topped the bestseller lists worldwide. Since then, he's had to fight off accusations of embellishment and fantasy from family members.

Schott's Original Miscellany - Ben Schott
Dip into Schott's compendium of trivia and impress your friends with such questions as, 'Do you know who makes the Queen's pork sausages?' The answer: Musks of Newmarket.

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - Edward Gibbon
Compressing 13 turbulent centuries into one epic narrative, this is often labelled the first 'modern' history book. Gibbon fell back on sociology, rather than superstition, to explain Rome's demise.

A History of the English-Speaking Peoples - Winston Churchill
Taking us from Caesar's 55BC invasion to the Boer War's end in 1902, Churchill’s four-volume saga makes the proud, but now-unfashionable, connection between speaking English and bearing 'the torch of Freedom'.

A History of the Crusades - Steven Runciman
Still the landmark account of the Crusades, Byzantine scholar Runciman's work broke with centuries of Western tradition, claiming the crusading invaders were guilty of a 'long act of intolerance in the name of God'.

The Histories - Herodotus
Ostensibly about Greece's defeat of the invading Persians in the 5th century BC, it blends fact, hearsay, legend and myth to tell tales of life in and around Ancient Greece.

The History of the Peloponnesian War - Thucydides
Famously fastidious over the reliability of his data and sources, Thucydides – with this detailed study of the 25-year struggle between Athens and Sparta – set the template for every historian after him.

Seven Pillars of Wisdom - T. E. Lawrence
Lawrence of Arabia's fascinating, self-mythologising account of how he united a string of Arab tribes and successfully led them to rebellion against their Ottoman overlords.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Compiled at King Alfred's behest in the AD890s, this is the earliest-known history of England written in old English. It's also the oldest history of any European country in a vernacular language.

A People's Tragedy - Orlando Figes
Figes charts the Russian Revolution in stark detail, telling the tale of 'ordinary people' and boldly concluding that they 'weren't the victims of the Revolution but protagonists in its tragedy'.

Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution - Simon Schama
Before he was on television, Prof Schama offered 948 pages of proof that there was more to the French Revolution than fraternity, equality and eating cake.

The Origins of the Second World War - A.J.P. Taylor
Was Hitler all that bad? Wasn't he just an opportunist who took advantage of Anglo-French dithering and appeasement? The label 'iconoclastic' applies to few historians so well as it does to Taylor.

Confessions - St Augustine
In probably the first autobiography in Western literature, the Church Father recounts his life-journey from sinner to saint, from the boy who stole pears from a neighbour's tree to the articulator of key Christian doctrines.

Lives of the Caesars - Suetonius
Charting the lives of Julius Caesar, Augustus and the 10 subsequent Roman emperors, with scandalous tales of imperial decadence, vice and lunacy.

Lives of the Artists - Vasari
The history of Italian Renaissance art, as told through the biographies of its heavyweight practitioners.

If This is a Man - Primo Levi
His background as an industrial chemist from Turin may not sound remarkable, but Levi's poised account of his hell-on-earth experiences as a prisoner at Auschwitz undoubtedly is.

Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man - Siegfried Sassoon
He's best known for his anti-war poems, but he was also once popular for his semi-autobiographical trilogy of novels, of which this was the first.

Eminent Victorians - Lytton Strachey
Strachey didn't do hagiography. His unflattering biographical essays on major Victorian figures debunked the myth of Victorian pre-eminence.

Diaries - Alan Clark
The late Tory MP was not one to get bogged down in matters of policy. His indiscreet memoirs detailed countless extra-marital affairs and character assassinations of colleagues.

A Life of Charlotte Brontë - Elizabeth Gaskell
A biography of the intriguing Jane Eyre author, by her friend and fellow-novelist, Gaskell. One of the definitive 'tortured genius' biographies.

Goodbye to All That - Robert Graves
A friend of Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen, Graves was another Englishman to write unsparingly about the horrors of trench warfare.

The Life of Dr Johnson - Boswell
He's one of English literature's all-time heavyweights, but most of what we know about Samuel Johnson, the man, comes from his friend Boswell’s hearty anecdotal biography.